We don't need to mess with you, we have real worldwide competition to worry about. Like DTM and the Aussie V8. Now, to show you I'm not against stock cars, I'll publicly state that the Australian V8 Supercar Series is my second favorite series. Remember, that's how we met! NASCAR is the problem, not stock cars or being "a show" and accessible to the fans (but it's hard for F1 drivers, since NASCAR is a drop in the bucket comparatively (Formula One had a total global television audience of 527 million people during the course of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. NASCAR? 150 million, if they are lucky. NASCAR ticket sales revenue fell by 38 percent over the past five years.) What I noticed about your video was just how empty the seats were compared to 10 years ago. Sad, really.

But yes, Hammond does like the Americans. Perhaps because he's never been. But he has now....

Top Gear, though, are just a bunch of "car" guys with some actual wit and intelligence (unlike the American car shows...zzzzzzzzzzzzz). And they almost exclusively talk about circuit racing when they have their challenges. They even have an "F1 Board" where F1 drivers visit the show and try to outrun one another in a Kia on their track. But my two favorite shows so far were when they came to America, landed in Florida, and challenged each other to take $1000 and buy a car and then see who got the fastest one. It's so funny I can't describe it, so you must watch it:

My other favorite was when they went to a soccer stadium and played rugby with this huge football and they would actually have these car scrums just grinding tired in the grass against 8 other cars. lol. Then they would drive about 120mph into the ball and it would actually go up through the goalpost. Again, I was in tears. That show is like crack.

That was just part of the whole segment. I'm sure you can see the best parts (like when they had a contest to see who could get the others either murdered or arrested in Alabama by writing slogans on the car. "Hillary for President" and "Jesus is a Communist" and such. But "I'm Bi" and "Gay Love rules" like you mentioned almost did get one beaten at a gas station. lol.

Pocono, Pa. - The last time Jeff Gordon visited Pocono Raceway, the No. 24 Chevrolet had a great finish. This time he will have the same great finish - just with a different name.

In August, Gordon started 27th and worked his way up to sixth before a Lap 90 restart. One corner later, he was leading.

“I was able to clear Kasey (Kahne) before we got to Turn 1,” Gordon said of the restart. “I knew I wanted that bottom lane.

“And then the ‘sea parted.’”

Contact between the leaders sent the top four either into a spin or out of the groove. Gordon drove the bottom lane to the lead - and to the win since the race never restarted due to rain. Click here to see photos from Gordon’s win.

The finish on the car that weekend was DuPont Performance Coatings. That business was sold in the first quarter of this year and was re-branded Axalta Coating Systems. So while the name may have changed, Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet SS will feature the same great finish in this Sunday’s Party in the Poconos 400. Plus, the car will display the bold new Axalta logo.

“This is our 21st year together,” said Gordon, referencing the longest sponsor/driver/team pairing in NASCAR. “They have been with us since my first race at Atlanta in 1992, and they have been the ‘Official Finish of NASCAR’ since 1994.

“It’s been a great relationship that continues to this day - the same people making the same great finishes just with a different name.”

Gordon, the all-time lap leader here with 965, is the winningest driver at the 2.5-mile track. Along with his record six victories, Gordon has two poles, 18 top-five finishes and 28 top-10s at “The Tricky Triangle.”

“Pocono is a unique track,” said Gordon, whose No. 24 Axalta Coating Systems Chevrolet SS will feature the familiar FireStorm paint scheme. “You can go out there thinking you’re pushing hard and be a second off the pace. It’s a track where a lot of speed can be lost or gained based on how hard you push it. Finding the edge and the limits is a little bit tougher on such a big race track with three unique corners.

“The Tunnel Turn (2) has always been one of the most hair-raising experiences on our schedule. It takes full commitment.

“Pocono is a unique track,” said Gordon, whose No. 24 Axalta Coating Systems Chevrolet SS will feature the familiar FireStorm paint scheme. “You can go out there thinking you’re pushing hard and be a second off the pace. It’s a track where a lot of speed can be lost or gained based on how hard you push it. Finding the edge and the limits is a little bit tougher on such a big race track with three unique corners.

____________This is why Jeff Gordon could, in his prime I believe, have been in F1. I watched him break into NASCAR and he was a pure joy to watch race. Even on a boring oval. lol.

LONG POND, Pa. -- Jimmie Johnson says Juan Pablo Montoya is the equivalent of an NBA flopper. Montoya says Johnson can't admit his mistake. The two continued to agree to disagree Friday on what happened last weekend on the final restart at Dover.

Johnson was penalized for jumping the restart and beating Montoya, the leader, to the start-finish line. Johnson says Montoya pulled off a NASCAR version of an NBA flop, deliberately slowing down to force Johnson to get a penalty.

Montoya, who ended up second to Tony Stewart in the Sprint Cup Series race, just laughed and said Johnson simply mistimed it and blew it, causing his penalty all by himself.

"If I did something so wrong, why is it only Jimmie passed me?" Montoya asked Friday at Pocono Raceway. "If I had such a bad restart, why didn't NASCAR say anything? It was Jimmie [moving ahead], and the whole rest of the field [staying behind him].

"Jimmie didn't even want to line up next to me. He was trying to time it and he mistimed it."

Johnson doesn't see it that way. He starting on the inside of the front row as the second-place car, but zoomed ahead of Montoya in the restart zone and didn't give the position back, which NASCAR rules require.

Johnson was penalized, forced to come down pit road, and finished 17th in a race he dominated most of the day.

"I've had time to digest it this week," Johnson said. "To me it's like the problem with flopping [falling down to claim a player fouled you] in an NBA game.

"Juan just didn't go. In my opinion, he played it right to let me get out ahead of him. Nothing against Juan doing it. As racers, we work every angle. I put it more on the officiating. Everybody could see Juan just didn't go. I took the bait. He found a loophole and worked it to his advantage."

When told of Johnson's comment, Montoya smiled: "Did I? Wow, I'm that good. Man, that's an accomplishment. He should tell me what I did so I can figure it out myself.

"Look, what's so hard to understand? There's no drama. The leader restarts the race. That's the rule. You can't beat the leader to the line. The funny thing is Jimmie probably would have passed me anyway had he not mistimed it."

Johnson continues to maintain the wrong call was made and the rule is unclear.

"We have the tools to make a better decision," he said. "The race was taken away from us. NASCAR has the ability to make the call, so when someone flops, what then?"

Johnson also claims he tried to give the first position back to Montoya, but Montoya wouldn't move ahead of him.

"I tried the entire front stretch to give it back," Johnson said. "Next time, I'll just stand on the brakes and stop. Even if I finished fifth it would have been better than 17th. I just saw Clint [Bowyer, who was behind Johnson] and he said, 'Dude, I was on the brakes. I knew you were in trouble.' "

Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, tends to agree with Johnson, but also said the leader has all of the power.

"Looking at the video, I think Jimmie was on the edge of anticipation," Gordon said. "But I think Juan did a great job. That flop was as good as it gets. The leader has that ability to do that."

NASCAR officials said Montoya maintained a proper pace and did nothing wrong.

"I just want it crystal clear as to what we can and cannot do," Johnson said. "Just enforce it properly either way. We have the technology to do that."

Montoya was asked what he would do Sunday if Johnson was first and he was second, lined up side-by-side on the final restart.

Weather could be a factor at Pocono on Friday & Saturday: The weather forecast for Long Pond, PA and the Pocono Raceway this weekend does NOT look good at all for Friday [Practice & Qualifying] or Saturday [Practices]:The forecast for Friday: Showers. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 62. Southeast wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.Friday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Cloudy, with a low around 56. East wind 7 to 13 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.Saturday: Showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 9am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. West wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Toyota dialing back its Sprint Cup engines for two races: Nearly all of Toyota's Sprint Cup crew chiefs and drivers gathered on leather couches in the back room of the manufacturer's mobile headquarters Friday morning at Pocono Raceway. It was the first meeting chaired by David Wilson since his appointment as acting president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development, yet this wasn't a perfunctory get-to-know-you affair. With Toyota's engines failing at an alarming rate, including those in the Camrys of Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. last week at Dover International Speedway, the subject matter was serious: How to improve reliability without dialing back performance. Starting with Sunday at Pocono Raceway and continuing next week at Michigan International Speedway, Toyota will be more conservative with its tuning at two superspeedways known for putting heavy stress on engines.